Friday, May 19, 2006

Local Rabbi Roundly Condemns Any Form of Child Molestation

In the past few days of accusations have been swirling of child molestation and subsequent cover-ups in our Yeshivas. Perhaps most damaging and outrageous was an allegation, made in New York Magazine, that quoted a Gadol, Rav Pinchas Scheinberg, as having ruled in the past that there must be actual penetration in order for child molestation to be actionable from a Halachic standpoint. A refrain that I have heard over and over this week is "Where are the Rabbis? Why are they silent? Where are the condemnations of these acts from our community leaders?" And I am very pleased to say that at least one local Rabbi has stepped up to the plate and issued a public condemnation in both his own name, as well as Rav Scheinberg's.

Dear Community Members:

Over the last few days, a number of people have brought to my attention an article from a secular publication asserting that a world-renowned Rosh Hayeshiva issued a halachic ruling regarding child molestation. This alleged ruling "through this publication“ has resulted in widespread Chilul Hashem and gross misrepresentation of clear and indisputable Halacha.

The purpose of this letter is not to address the context of the quote, the alleged ruling in question or the specifics of the primary accusations made in the article. This letter is about clarifying the position of halacha with regard to child abuse, to the extent that position has been clouded by these recent events. Moreover, thisletter is about urgently disseminating essential halachic facts which -- hopefully -- will serve to mitigate the potential damage and destruction caused by this mischaracterization.

It is incumbent upon all Rabbonim worldwide to unite and unequivocally declare that Orthodox Judaism absolutely forbids child abuse of any kind sexual and non-sexual. And, as with any other allegation of halachic wrongdoing, the appropriate testimony must be given, and the appropriate proceedings must be convened, in order to establish the truth of any accusations.

Allow me to be among the first to make this declaration, and I speak not only for myself but also for the Rosh Hayeshiva named in this publication, with whom I have consulted:

Sexually abusing a child in any form is a flagrant violation of our Torah. Halacha absolutely prohibits any and all such conduct. No "benchmark" exists to qualify a sexually motivated act as child molestation, and there are no "technical defenses" to justify child abuse. To be crystal clear: the touching of a child in a sexual manner is utterly forbidden by our Torah and by our mesorah.

It is my hope and prayer that this letter will serve to clarify any confusion about the Torah view on these very serious issues. Obviously, this is not a scholarly letter or article -- now is not the time for Talmudic sources, lengthy discussions or intellectual debates. It is simply the time to set the record straight solely for the purpose of abruptly ending the Chilul Shaim Shomayim facilitated by the dissemination of the supposed Torah viewpoint reported in the article.

Child abuse is forbidden. An issue this easy does not need further clarification. It is my sincere hope that, in consultation with other Rabbonim in our community, we can collectively and effectively formulate appropriate strategies to ensure that the issue of child abuse is dealt with appropriately, proactively and swiftly in our community and beyond.

Good Shabbos.

Rabbi Aryeh GinzbergChofetz Chaim Torah CenterCedarhurst, NY

In addition to his own condemnation, Rabbi Ginzberg quotes Rav Scheinberg as putting his name behind a different ruling, one which forbids any sexual contact with minors whatsoever as being an act of child molestation. While the letter doesn't go so far as to refute the allegation that Rav Scheinberg tried to dissuade the alleged molester's accusers from pursuing their claims , it does refute the notion that there are technical limitations to the definition of molestation.

Yasher Koach to Rabbi Ginzberg, and I hope to see all of our communal leaders following suit in the coming days.

303 Comments:

Since the allegation was printed in the national press, I think it is necessary to flood their PO Box with letters contradicting this statement. It was a massive chillul Hashem and should not go unchallenged in the general press.

If anyone is looking to discuss protecting children and protecting ourselves, I have the thread up and would like readers to add their own 2 cents. (Let's make the j-blogosphere a grassroots place for change).

Unfortunalty, this response makes me more willing to believe the allegations against Rabbi Sheinberg than disbelieve them. If it is cut and dry, that Rabbi Sheinberg NEVER said such things and disagrees with them strongly, why not say that up front???

Those who seek the truth can contact Jeffrey Herman or David Framowitz. You will then hear first hand testimony from victims of Kolko exactly what they were told by Rav Sheinberg. The victims have no reason to lie. They will tell you that Rav Sheinberg told them they were not abused. If anybody reading this is close to Rabbi Ginzburg ask him if he made any effort to see if the story was true(i.e. call the victims or their lawyers). It is high time we seek the truth.

Because, Dag, that's an issue that takes time to fully vet with a 93 year old man. This was the easy part. Did you really expect Rabbi Ginzberg to have conducted a full and complete investigation of what exactly was said years ago and in what context? In due time, this can be accomplished. But for today, as Rabbi Ginzberg said, the silence was broken and one of the elements of Chilul Hashem in this fiasco was put to rest.

Shame on you, Dag, for not being able to see this. Don't fall into the trap of automatically condemning Rabbonim because of their title. Many "bad-guys" are out there, but for today, Rabbi Ginzberg is lone very, very "good guy."

Shame on you anonymous! I dont bash gedolim. But I do know an apperant snow job when I see it. If he had no information to report, he should not have reported it....or at least not in Rabbi Sheinberg's name. Issuing a denial that intentionaly denies nothing, he makes rabbi Sheinberg look more guilty than if he said nothing at all.

I can't tell you exactly what Im may have said 20 years ago (i know im not 93) but I sure as ANYHTING could tell you something that I did NOT say!

2) Jump on the "hang the creeps" bandwagon without sufficient time to do independent research.

The irony here is that, on the one hand, everyone take NY Mangazine as gospel when they make allegations against the accused but, on the other hand, when the "gospel" says that a Gadol said something, it is dismissed as being too obviously untrue to even make a denial statement.

Dag, you are right, don't pay any attention to anon. And anon, watch your rhetoric - no one wants to hear 'shame on you', we are past the days of bullying school principals. And once a deposition is taken, you will see how quickly it takes to find out whether R Scheinberg made 20+ international phone calls to parents of children who claimed they were sexually abused. That's not something you forget so easily.

OK. Has the deposition been taken? No. And if it's taken and what you say is true, we can only hope that R' Ginsberg will issue another letter. If you want to bash him NOW, you're just looking to bash Rabbonim, and you'll have no credibility at all when -- on a later date -- he derves the criticism.

'Once a deposition is taken' is meant both literally and figuratively. The point was that under the gun answers are produced quickly and memories are refreshed. Read the rest of that comment and say if you disagree.

On a serious note, your posts don't seem to deserve too much of my time, so I'll leave you to debate yourself. If you really need someone to talk to, I know this "Boog" guy on UOJ -- the two of you would make a great couple.

Yes, Dag, I'm simply afraid of you and I'm taking the easy way out. See you in Ginzberg's shul...

Is this the same anonymous who just a short while ago in the context of school board elections condemned other community individuals for "maligning 21 community Rabbis"? We see how much respect he's got for Rabbinical authority.

e.tzedakah@gmail.com is the "moderator" of some list on yahoo called FTS, for the five towns singles, or shuls, or whatevr. i would take what he or she has to say with a whole bag of salt, not just a grain.

You know whats funny?..Its funny that even after the jews prove to the world how much they have contributed to the advancement of mankind, people still believe to eagerly type something negative about the jews on the media.. Why? No no REALLY why?? Im not saying that they are perfect and error-less. everybody has their own defects but seriously, if you really look at the big picture, the world and everything in it, you would most definitely see that it is quite foolish to speak in such ways about the jews.. If anybody needs some more info about if the jews werent here, then I can tell them exactly what kind of world this would have been without them.. Oh by the way, did you know that the little camera on your cell phone was invented in Israel by the jews.. Funny isnt it :)

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